A/N: Hi! I did say I was going to update twice, right? So here ya go, this time it'll be sea-questing time! Yaay *dances**shot*
Anyway, I guess that's all for now. I don't really have much to say, except WISH ME LUCK AT THE CHURCH ON SATURDAY, SUNDAY SCHOOL IS CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS EARLY AND I HAVE TO PLAY MUSIC FOR THE WHOLE SERVICE TTnTT
Ahem, sorry about that. Anyway, let's start!
Warning and Disclaimer...ya know the drill...
Enjoy~
Chronicles of the Drowned City
C.16: The Strength of Bonds
"O...kay...wow..."
"Didn't you tell us that item gathering will help us a lot with our money problems?"
"Yea', I know... just... never thought it'll get us this much...," said Rudollf as he looked at all the cash the Firm's shop owner gave them. Guad sighed.
"Well, uh, thanks! So... I guess we'll be-"
"Hold on a second," the shop owner then went to the back. The group stood still, waiting for her to get back. The girl then came out, carrying with her new products.
"Here you are, some new gear we've managed to make from the materials you've gathered. Also, some more supplies of medicine, in case you need it."
"We'll take it!" Rudollf then proceeded to pick up some of the medicine the shop owner put on the table-medicas, nectars and the like. The group gaped at the amount of medicine Rudollf picked up.
"Uh... you really think we need that much?" asked the Farmer.
"Well, better safe th'n sorry, right?" Rudollf then stuffed the medicine in his bag and paid the shopowner about... oh say, 900 En or so for everything. Everyone gaped even more at the amount of money they had to pay.
"R-Rudollf... you know gathering stuff takes a lot out of you..." said Guad as his shoulders sunk. A pat on the shoulder came from Ribu.
"Don't...worry... next time, animals gather! We take break!" Smiling a bit, albeit still sulking, Guad nodded.
After buying some more things in the store (and of course becoming broke again), the group headed towards the Inver Port. As expected, the first person to greet them is the captain, and owner of the port, holding a piece of paper with him.
"Lemme guess, more quests?" asked Rudollf. The captain nodded. He then turned to look at the group's newest member.
"Oh, and I see you've found yourself another member!" Ribu raised an eyebrow, a bit confused over the man's paticullar looking attire.
"He...pirate?" Rudollf nodded, still smiling.
"So, what'll it be this time?" The captain handed the paper to them without another word. Rudollf crouched down so that the others could see as well. 'Man, these lasses 'r damn short...' thought the man.
As they read, a quest caught Ribu. Everyone turned to the nature-loving girl, an angry look on her eyes.
"How dare they compare animals like that! They're all strong and useful in their own right!" gritted the girl in her native language. The others just raised an eyebrow, unable to understand anything the girl just said. Ribu, noticing their confused looks, points to the lowest part of the paper.
"We...take this quest." Rudollf sighed. Just like he thought.
" 'Right, then. Th'lass 'ere wants t'take this quest, so I'll oblige," said Rudollf, handing the paper back to the captain. The captain nodded, stowing it away in his pocket.
"Wait here, I'll go get the client." The group did as told. They waited there for a few minutes, before the captain came back with a rather peculliar looking person, wearing tribal clothes kind of like Ribu, only he's male.
Noticing the girl, the boy ran up to her.
"Hey! I don't think I've seen you before!" said the boy. "You do look familiar, though..."
"I've never seen you before too. I don't think we come from the same tribe, but how come you can speak in my language?" asked Ribu.
"Well, I just happened to have stayed in your tribe for a while and learned you language." Ribu nodded.
"Uh... what are you two talking about?" asked the Ninja. Ribu turned to her.
"We... not come from same tribe but he... know my language."
"Personal stuff. Let's not delve into it further," suggested the Buccaneer. Chitose did as told and stopped asking her questions.
"So," Guad began,"you wanted us to help you with something?" The boy nodded.
"Me... Bergman. Me want you... to help me... prove animal's worth." Ok, no wonder Ribu wanted to pick this quest. It's a pretty touchy one for her.
Rudollf looked at the others. They all shrugged, seemingly ready.
Sighing, the man handed over some cash to the captain.
" Alright, captain. We're sailin' t'Batavia's port!" The captain nodded, taking the money and ordering his crew to get the ship ready to set sail. Guad tugged at Rudollf's clothes.
"You know, for a retired pirate, he sure still has a lot of energy." Rudollf simply nodded, and got on he ship, helping the others prep the ship.
After the ship is loaded, they set sail, carefully navigating their way through the strong currents.
"So, what do you think we'll be fighting?" asked Chitose, more out of curiosity for what the beast might look like more than anything. Both Wildlings just shrugged.
"So you have no idea... I'm starting to think this'll be a suicide run..." muttered Guad, but then clasped his mouth shut as he realised what it is he just said. "Forget I said anything!" The two Wildlings just glared at the boy.
"But it is an undersea creature... 'would be good if we had thunder spells with us..." Chitose then sighed,"...I mean that Zodiak girl. What was her name? Zakharia?" Guad nodded.
"Well, we'll just have t'make do without her!" Rudollf then stopped the ship as they arrived near Batavia's shores. "We're here," he said.
Noticing some disturbances in the water, Rudollf turned to the others. "Get ready!" he said.
A wave of red lobsters and puffer-fish came out just then, claws and the like snapping, ready to attack them.
Chitose dodged one of it's incoming claws, then stabbed it on the back without another word. Thowing the lobster aside, she dodged another onslaught coming from a puffer-fish that managed to somehow jump onto the ship. As the puffer-fish jumped upwards and lunged itself at Chitose, with great speed and accuracy she hacked the thing in two, fluids spilling out of it.
The pungent scent coming from the fluids seemed awfully familiar to her, though...
Oh wait.
"Be careful when your fighting the puffer-fish! It's poisonous!" The group nodded, Chitose stabbing another lobster that came at her. Guad managed to kill some of the animals with his hoe, smacking it and breaking it's joints, while Ribu managed to stab some puffer-fish that came close to her.
"We...get boat to land!" said Bergman suddenly
"What, with these things on our tails?!"
"Do it!" Rudollf sighed. Fine, he'll get the boat to dry land.
"Hold on!" called Rudollf as he began steering, the sea lobster and puffer-fish attacking the ship's body as they sailed.
Forcing the ship to land on dry land, the five of them got off, a sea lobster throwing itself in Rudollf's face just before he shot it, letting out another flurry of shots aiming at the rest of the monsters.
They all connected, and the beasts fell with each bullet that hit. Reloading his gun, Rudollf noticed another disturbance in the water.
"There's more!" he warned. Bergman then proceeded to call an animal.
"Bergman, what are you doing?!" asked Guad. They all then noticed that another wave of those things came charging at them from within the waters, claws snapping, tentacles ready to attack.
Just as those monsters are about to reach dry land, the sound of hoofs rapidly thumping on the ground resounded in the air. The group turned to see a raging cow (well, maybe more along the lines of a bull) running at them at full speed. The group dodged the cow as it went past them, before throwing itself at the horde of beasts, ramming at it head on and throwing it back into the waters, wounding the beasts in the process.
"Whoa..." unable to utter any words, Guad simply stood there in awe.
"Animal... good help!" said Bergman as he issued the cow to get ready to attack. Rudollf shot at the beasts, some of the bullets merely grazing it's body. Guad ran into the waters, attempting to smite the puffer-fish, Chitose joining him as she slashed at the shrimp, cleaving those in two.
Ribu called a giant bird to come and peck at the beasts. By that, I mean eat them.
Unfortunately no, it didn't eat them, it killed them and mereley left them, leaving their bodies to be pulled back into their grave. The cow Bergman called then rammed at the rest of the beasts remaining, killing them off, whilst throwing them back into their watery grave.
All panted, staying on their spots, seemingly tired from the waves of enemies they had to fend off. Especially Guad and Chitose.
Just then, a huge disturbance came from the waters, much bigger than the last wave of enemies they had to fight off.
"What the heck, more?" complained Rudollf. Reloading his gun for a third time, he cocked it, aiming the barrel at the disturbance-or rather at the being about to surface from within the waters.
A giant, fanged, almost demonic looking fish then came out, jaws ready to feast on it's prey.
"Are you kiddin' me?!" Rudollf then stayed quiet to think for a minute before he spoke again.
"Now, I got some experience with these things. They won't go near th'land, and the waters are just too deep for ya t'stand in, so attackin' that thing normally is outta the question." Another wave of those creatures they fought, puffer-fish, lobsters and such, came out of the waters just as Rudollf finished talking.
"Eh... tell ya what, some of ya focus on attacking them things there that followed that giant fish," Guad , Bergman and Ribu nodded,"ok... while I go and try to shoot that thing t'death."
"I'll be helping you out with that, then," said Chitose,"those things... I can use them as a sort of make-shift foothold." She then proceeded to jump onto one of the lobsters inching closer to shore, as if demonstrating, killing it just as she jumped off of it onto a puffer-fish, repeating the process.
"Well, ya heard her!" The Buccaneer then proceeded to shoot the giant fish, letting out a flurry of shots that hit it randomly. Ribu called out another bird to help them, while Bergman ordered the cow to attack, the cow ramming at it's opponents, throwing them back.
Chitose kept on jumping, making her way closer and closer towards the giant fish. Noticing the danger, the fish smitted Chitose out of it's way, moving closer to shore in an attempt to also smite the others at the beach.
It managed to, and they all got thrown back, into the waters. Swimming back up, the group noticed that they're quite far from shore. They also noticed that disturbanced are also happing all around them.
Shoot.
Those lobsters and puffer-fish then came out, along with the giant, demonic fish.
They're surrounded.
"We're dead, aren't we..?" muttered Guad weakly. Just then, the sound of hoofs clashing against the water came to their ears.
The cow Bergman called then jumped, albeit looking quite wounded, throwing itself at the beasts, including the giant fish itself, it's horns puncturing the fish's flesh, throwing it back further at the sea.
The cow dropped down, blood dripping from it's several cuts and wounds. Bergman, horrified by the sight called to the cow and ordered it to run.
It did, barely managing to get that far, but far enough so that the battle wouldn't affect it.
"We'll have t'swimm back t'shore!" the others did as told and swam back to shore, their little trip tiring the group out further. They all panted, Rudollf standing up, wiping the mixture of salt water and sweat off of his face. He then saw that the fish, despite the puncture wounds it has, is charging at them, jaws snapping. Another wave of those other creatures followed it.
Rudollf is seriously starting to doubt if they'll come back alive.
Chitose then came in front of them, dashing quickly at the raging beast as the beast got ready to intercept the ninja. Just then, the cow came out again, having recovered slightly, surprising Bergman himself. It, again, rammed at the fish. Chitose noticed that the cow's positioned just under her feet. She took no chances and, without another word, used the cow as a foothold and jumped, leaping onto the beast's back, dragging her knife along it as she ran, jumping, then using one of the puffer-fish as another foothold and quickly, jumping again as she dissapeared out of view, lightning quick swipes and cuts forming gashes on the giant beast, a steady stream of blood flowing out of the wounds.
The girl then came back into view, landing just in front of Rudollf. "Now! Shoot it!" The giant fish's thrashing made it hard for Rudollf to get a good aim, though.
As those two are focusing on the giant fish, the two Wildlings and Guad noticed that the other sea creatures have gotten closer to shore. Tired as they are, the fact that the fish had gotten damaged severly already managed to give Bergman a little boost.
Letting out a cry, he charged into battle with his spear, his trusty cow ramming at more opponents, even after Bergman told it to leave.
Ribu, encouraged by Bergman, let out her own cry, in which case, she used to call out another bird.
To her surprise though, what came out is a lion.
A lion.
It charged at the beasts, protecting Ribu, clawing it's way through the beasts' flesh, ripping and tairing them apart, while the cow still rammed at enemies. Empowered by the sight, Ribu hoisted her spear, attacking the sea creatures alongside her companions.
Guad, inspired by the scene, sighed, before hoisting his own hoe to intercept anything that came at his way.
Rudollf meanwhile, had used most of his ammo to shoot the raging beast. It thrashed, as Chitose tried to manuever around the beast, trying to find another opening for her to attack.
"Shit..." muttered Rudollf,"I only got one more bullet left.." he inwardly cursed himself for not buying anymore ammo.
Sighing, the man tried to keep calm and follow the beast's movements. He then noticed that Chitose had leapt onto the beast's back, attempting to stab it, trying to suspend the beast for a short while.
It's a short window of opportunity, but one Rudollf'll have to take.
"Ok... once th'knife hits..." he then saw Chitose plunge the knive into the beast's flesh.
"Now!" he cried as he quickly shot the last of his bullet, crossing his fingers, praying that the bullet will hit.
It did! Dead on in the head!
As the bullet embeded itself within the fish's skull, it stopped moving, Chitose still on it. A huge splash of water came as the beast plunged into the water for the last time, it's body sinking slowy into it's watery grave, blood mixing with the salty waters, Chitose jumping off just as it sunk.
Using the rest of the other creature's carcasses as a foothold, she leapt back to shore.
"You were lucky, back there," said the ninja. Rudollf sheepishly smiled. "Very," he muttered.
The last of the beasts are slain by the animals Ribu and Bergman called. As they died, Bergman let out a cry of victory, along with his trusty cow. Ribu however, stood where she is, preplexed.
"How did... I don't even know how to control a lion yet.." mumbled the girl.
"Well, maybe it understood you were in danger. You know, animals have a way of telling people apart based on their nature and intentions. But ya know," a slight pause,"I think it likes you!" Just then, the lion went and sat next to the smaller girl. Hesitantly, Ribu reached out to pat it's mane. The lion didn't do anything, in fact, it looked like it likes her company.
"You form bonds with animals. Sometimes though, for people like us, we don't need to know how to control it. Sometimes those animals come to us!" Giving what Bergman said some thought, Ribu nodded.
"Yea', well... sorry, Ribu, but we can't be bringin' a lion back t'town.." said Rudollf, apologetically. Ribu sighed, then bid her farewell to the animal. The lion seemed hesitant, but then it walked off, back to where it came from, taking a last, sad looking glance at Ribu.
"Well, I... guess, it's high time we head back," said Guad. Bergman nodded, telling the cow to come with him. Rudollf gaped slightly.
"Whoa there! Ya sure?!"
"Me... live in forest. Me live with cow!" He said, before running off. Rudollf and the others sighed.
So that's where he really lives. Huh...
The group then tiredly got on to the ship, Rudollf steering the ship back to Armoroad. The rest of the group used the medicine Rudollf brought to heal their wounds, Chitose hiding in the back of the ship, where she stowed away the animal parts she's managed to gather.
As they arrived back at the port, the captain greeted them, looking surprised over how battered the group looked.
"What in the world happened back there?"
"Fish... loads of 'em..." muttered Rudollf, weakly. The captain sighed.
"Well, you still managed to kill it, which is good. Though be more careful next time! You could litelarly get yourself killed!" They all smiled sheepishly.
"Anyway, Bergman wanted to thank you all for helping him. Looks like those guys that insulted him'll have to think twice next time! Oh, that's right!" The captain then grabbed something leaning against a wall. He then handed it over to Ribu.
"Here you are, Bergman's own spear. He said he wanted to give this to you, Ribu was it?. He told me you did something quite extraordinary, too! Use the spear well." The captain then nodded,"I'll notify you if you ever get any other requests." They all nodded and went off.
Along the way, Ribu kept on looking at the spear.
Ok, she's managed to form a bond with a lion, beat the hell out of several monsters with it, and she isn't even capable of controlling lions yet.
Maybe Bergman's right. Sometimes animals do come to you instead of the other way around.
Smiling, the girl wondered; will she see that lion again?
Eh, who knows? Maybe she will.
After all, the strength of bonds surpass everything. Especially if they're between animals and their master.
-To Be Continued-
A/N: I WROTE THIS AT SCHOOL IN ONE DAY HOLY MOTHER OF GOD.
Well, not in one day, more like in a few hours. Haha, yeah... anyway, yay for Wildling development *kindda*! *dances*
So, I guess I'll see you all next time!
And now I shall go home *sneaks into house*